Lakrahan sat across from Tatyana, cookies and warm tea between them.

Tatyana appeared quite cute with her bobbed hair braided into pigtails, though it was unclear who had done it for her.

The children had been receiving an abundance of love from those working in the castle lately.

“Your Grace.”

Tatyana grinned at Lakrahan, showing all her teeth.

“Did you call me here just to share these cookies?”

“Yes. Eat.”

“Wow. Thank you.”

Clapping her hands in joy, Tatyana savored the cookies made by Mrs. Morgan.

Lakrahan, leaning back on the sofa, watched the child with a voice much softer than usual.

“I saw Tatyana in the forest a few days ago.”

Tatyana’s eyes widened as she was munching on a cookie.

“Me?”

“Yes. You were with some woman.”

“Ah! You saw?”

Tatyana, who had expected to be surprised, finished crunching her cookie.

Then, she gestured for Lakrahan to come closer, dusting off her hands over the empty plate.

As he leaned in, she placed her hands beside her chubby cheeks and whispered.

“But that must remain a secret.”

Lakrahan narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Why a secret?”

“That is…”

Fidgeting with the hem of her dress and hesitating, Tatyana spoke in a voice even lower than before.

“Actually, she is Your Grace’s guardian angel.”

“…What?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected answer, Lakrahan was momentarily confused.

“My guardian angel?”

“Yes!”

Lakrahan studied Tatyana’s face.
There was no sign of lying or fabrication from the child.

Tatyana picked up the cookie crumbs she had just made by brushing off her hands.

Her dangling legs swinging under the sofa didn’t seem anxious, rather playful.

“Did that woman tell you that?”

“Yes! She said that if you tell His Grace where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing, she can protect His Grace.”

Tatyana paused to think before speaking again.

“But that sister is an angel, so she can’t be seen by people during the day. That’s why we have to meet secretly at night. Ah! She also sometimes gives me an allowance. I save that money and go to the tailor in the village.”

“Tailor?”

“Yes! Melissa keeps growing, so sometimes we have to buy her clothes once a month. If I take the money, the tailor’s owner makes several sets of clothes for Melissa.”

Lakrahan’s lips parted thinly.

Melissa, the youngest of the children, was still toddling around in diapers.

Tatyana had taken responsibility even for the parts he had neglected.

“Also, after sister comes, I report about her to you. That way, I can protect both sister and His Grace.”

“Ha.”

Lakrahan exhaled as if incredulous and leaned back in his chair.

Watching him, Tatyana suddenly looked frightened and asked.

“Your Grace, did I do something wrong?”

Lakrahan shook his head slowly.

“No. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

The one who had done wrong was not Tatyana.
Adults who try to deceive children to get what they want.

As time passes, human selfishness becomes more and more intolerable.

Trash who think nothing of selling their conscience for their own gain.

Lakrahan sat up and stroked the still worried-looking Tatyana’s head.

“You look like your sister now.”

“Really?”

A smile suddenly spread across Tatyana’s face.

“Yes. Both pure.”

Her small eyes were wide and innocent.

“And?”

Lakrahan chuckled as he replied.

“Pretty.”

Tatyana giggled and nodded her head.

“Yes! You’re right. Thank you, Your Grace!”

Bercheria headed toward the back road of the castle without anyone knowing.

She was anxious in case she would bump into someone who knew her and her whereabouts would be exposed, but fortunately, nothing like that happened.

If by chance Lakrahan followed her, it could lead to trouble, so she moved even more cautiously than usual.

“Haah.”

Even though it was the early evening, her breath was already visible.

Bercheria stretched out her hand and focused all her nerves on it.

She thought of a scene where it was snowing, but nothing happened in the sky.

“It’s okay.”

Pulling back her hand, Bercheria walked deeper into the forest.

As the grass crunched underfoot, her time with Lakrahan naturally came to mind.

In fact, she had thought of that scene several times even after coming out of the forest.
The moment he sucked the poison out for her after she was bitten by a snake was vividly etched in her memory.

Why does this man make such a face when he looks at me?

Why is he worried about me?

It was unfamiliar and incomprehensible.

The mother who climbed the tower every day with stale bread had no interest in Bercheria’s pain.

If she talked back or refused to eat the bread, she was inevitably whipped, and the pain sometimes lasted for hours.

After that, she descended the tower without even looking back.

Having lived her whole life this way, Bercheria found it oddly strange that someone empathized with her pain.

Even when she rummaged through the memories of the Awakened, they too had never received comfort from anyone.

They were all people who sought favors or aimed to benefit by using the powers of the gods.

So, she had never thought about it.